Process for deodorizing resin-containing textiles by treatment with ammonia and steam



United States Patent Ofiice PROCESS FOR DEODORIZING RESIN-=CONTAIN- INGTEXTILES BY TREATMENT WITH AMMO- NIA AND STEAM James Ullrnan, New York,N.Y., assignor to Burlington Industries, Inc., Greensboro, N.C., acorporation of Delaware No Drawing. Filed Aug. 6, 1963, Ser. No. 300,170

1 Claim. (Cl. 117-62) The present application is a continuation-in-partof application Ser. No. 82,863, filed Jan. 16, 1961, which matured intoPatent 3,100,159 on Aug. 6, 1963.

The present invention relates to deoderizing of clothing, draperies,furniture covers, spreads, covers and wearing apparel in general whichhas been subjected to various finishes to eliminate odors therefrom.

Although not limited thereto, the present invention will be described inits application to removing fishy, fonmaldehyde and resin type odorsfrom cotton, rayon and other textile fabrics particularly such fabricsas have been resin finished to give wash-and-wear qualities, creaseresistance, flame resistance and other similar treatments.

It is among the objects of the present invention to treat such articleswhether woven or knitted and particularly those of cellulose materialsuch as cotton or rayon so as to remove aldehyde and amine odorstherefrom so that in garments or wearing apparel, there will not be anytendency for development of undesirable odors even though the fabricshave been subjected to resin type treatment and subsequent full orpartial curing operations.

Another object is to provide an enhanced treatment of such articleswhich have been subjected to finishing whether urea formaldehyde resinand melamine formaldehyde resins or other resin finishes to achieveshrinkage control, crease resistance and desirable hand so that duringsubsequent wearing, cleaning and/or laundering and in humid and hotclimates there will not be development of fishy, rancid, glue-like orother unpleasant odors.

A further object is to provide a. simple readily applicable inexpensiveprocedure of odor proofing such articles whether woven or knitted orwhether composed in part or whole of natural or synthetic fibers such ascotton, Wool, rayon, nylon or linen which will not increase the cost offinishing not require extra labor or delay in the finishing procedureand which will not also necessitate expensive apparatus or exactingcontrol arrangements and which will give substantial assurance orelimination of undesirable odors regardless of the type of resinsemployed or the time and temperature of the cure or the amount or typeof finishing after applied and regardless of the type of catalysts used.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an odor proofingprocedure for wash-and-wear fabrics which will be effective duringstorage, manufacture, shipping, laundering, cleaning and duringmerchandising and in hands of consumers in the form of a finishedgarment over long periods of time regardless of climatic and humidityconditions.

Still further objects and advantages will appear in the more detaileddescription set forth below, it being understood, however, that thismore detailed description is given by way of illustration andexplanation only and not by way of limitation, since various changestherein may be made by those skilled in the art without departing fromthe scope and spirit of the present invention.

In accomplishing the above objects, it has been found most satisfactoryto remove aldehyde amine fishy glue like and similar odors from cotton,rayon and other textile garments and fabricated articles by treatingthem 3,318,722 Patented May 9, 1967 after manufacture with a combinationof ammonia and steam and preferably anhydrous ammonia and high pressuredry steam as for example at pressures of 40 to 100 lbs. per square inchand preferably 70 to 90 lbs. per square inch.

It has been found most satisfactory to use a dry steam or steamcontaining no more than 5% to 20% of moisture at a pressure of lbs. persquare inch and containing a concentration of 1% to 15% and desirably 1%to 5% of anhydrous ammonia which is fed directly into or which is pickedup by the incoming steam.

The time period may range from one minute to two hours and desirably thetemperature is maintained at about 150 F. to 230 F. during thetreatment. The preferred temperature is 180 to 200 F.

In one preferred process according to the present invention, the goodsare desirably held or suspended in a closed chamber or in a rotatingtumbler and exposed to steam containing 1 to 5% of ammonia for about 15to 75 minutes.

Desirably these treatments are carried out about several days to severalmonths after the curing operation. In some instances the treatment maybe carried a year or longer after the curing operation.

Desirably anhydrous ammonia is utilized as the ammonia source anddepending upon the size of the treatment chamber, it is fed into thechamber at a rate so that 1% to 10% of the volume and desirably 2 /2% ofthe volume will consist of anhydrous ammonia.

For example, with a chamber having one hundred cubic feet, two andone-half cubic feet should consist of ammonia.

The goods may be subjected to a washing or cleaning treatment before orafter the ammonia treatment, but it is most desirable to eliminate anywashing, and if any subsequent treatment is to be employed, blowingsteam upon the treated fabric appears to complete the process and removeall residue of ammonia therefrom.

Steam pressures of 15 to 30 lbs. per square inch are not as satisfactoryas those of 60 to lbs. per square inch, and it has also been found thattemperatures of 200 to 250 F. are much more satisfactory than those ofto 200 F.

It is usually desirable if the steam and ammonia are combined inside thechamber or shortly before admission to the chamber.

The anhydrous ammonia is generally fed from a compressed cylinder orcylinders directly into the chamber or tumbler.

The ammonia may also be added to the steam in a header before admissionto the chamber or tumbler. Aqueous ammonia is usually not suitable sinceit disturbs the ammonia-steam balance and yields excessive amounts ofmoisture and produces too wet a mixture. The moisture content should bebelow 10%.

It will be noted that the steam is fed in at the bottom of chamberholding the garments which may be on hangcm at about 60 to 90 lbs. persquare inch pressure.

Desirably between one to five volumes of ammonia are fed in for every 70to 90 volumes of steam which is desirably substantially dry orcontaining less than 10% of moisture.

If desired, the steam may be given a superheat of 5 to 20 degrees uponentering the chamber.

Desirably the ammonia and steam may be fed into the chamber in which theclothing is suspended on hanger or in a tumbler in a 50 to 60 minutecycle.

The steam is constantly admitted during entire cycle at 80 lbs. persquare inch. The ammonia is introduced as follows in a chamber 9 x 12 x9 feet in size:

Ammonia: Time, minutes Steam only 5 Ammonia (at 25 cu. ft. 1 hr.) 57Ammonia (at 60 cu. ft. 1 hr.) 77 /2 Ammonia (at 25 cu. ft. 1 hr.) 7 /z21Ammonia (at 60 cu. ft. 1 hr.) 21 /2-22 Ammonia (at 25 cu. ft. 1 hr.)2236 /2 Ammonia (at 60 cu. ft. 1 hr.) 36 /237 Ammonia (at 25 cu. ft. 1hr.) 37-51 Ammonia shut off 51 Steam only 5156 Steam shut off 56Desirably the ceiling and walls of the chamber may also be heated toprevent condensation and the steam and ammonia introduced by separatepipes at bottom of the chamber. The steam lines may enter at 80 lbs. persquare inch through a 4" pipe having a series of /s" petcocks.

The ammonia was fed in through a /2" pipe about 3" above the steam linewith holes drilled at intervals in sides of the pipe.

In general the process is applicable to any resin finish particularlythose made from formaldehyde, urea, melamine, carbamate, urethane,ethylene urea, and triazone combinations, condensation products, resinsor linkages regardless of the molecular weight.

Although the steam is preferably continuously admitted, the ammonia alsomay be continuously admitted to give a mixture of 1 to in the chamber ortumbler.

The entrance pressure of the steam should desirably be at 80 lbs. persquare inch and the ammonia should 'be admitted at pressures of to 60lbs. per square inch.

As many changes could be made in the above processing, and many widelydifferent embodiments of this invention could be made without departingfrom the scope of the claim, it is intended that all matter contained inthe above description shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in alimiting sense.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of theinvention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, what isclaimed is:

A process for deodorizing textiles having a cured resin thereon wherebythe textiles may be deodorized within a period of up to one yearsubsequent to the curing of the resin-containing textile, comprisingintroducing into a chamber which is 9 x 12 x 9 feet in size andcontaining the said textiles, a fiow of steam from a source at 80lbs/in? pressure for a period of five minutes, thereafter introducingwith the steam anhydrous ammonia in the following amounts in consecutiveorder:

(A) 25 cu. ft./hr. for 2 minutes (B) cu. ft./hr. for /2 minute (C) 25cu. ft./hr. for 13 /2 minutes (D) 60 cu. ft./hr. for /2 minute (E) '25cu. ft./hr. for 14 /2 minutes (F) 60 cu. ft./hr. for /2 minute (G) 25cu. ft./hr. for 14 minutes and thereafter introduce steam from a sourceat lbs./ in. for a period of five minutes.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,492,965 5/1924Crystal 11848 2,267,276 12/1941 Hager 117-144 X 2,297,230 9/1942 Langen117106 X 2,461,302 2/1949 Truhlar et al. 117138 2,870,041 1/1959 Waddleet a1. 11762 2,928,758 3/1960 Waddle et a1. 11762 2,950,989 8/1960Freeman 11860 X 2,973,285 2/1961 Berke et a1. 117106 2,983,623 5/1961Coates 11762 3,100,159 8/1963 Ullman 11762 3,123,494 3/1964 Charreau11762 3,196,036 7/1965 Cotton et a1. 11762 WILLIAM D. MARTIN, PrimaryExaminer.

W. D HERRICK, Assistant Examiner.

